Kingdom Hearts: The 13th Requiem [PG-13/Not Accepting]

[Christian Exodia]

The Possessed Armour slowly ambled into the 3rd District.  unaware of what would become of it...

 

Xawnd continued training as a Samurai, being mostly silent to underline its confusion of the transpiring events. It (He?) slowly regained its strength and its expertise with the sword grew ever stronger. It sparred mainly for practice, and tried to find its niche in the environment that it was given. It tried to regain a self that it thought fit him. "Wow... this is such... I cannot describe it." It broke the silence pact it made when it was alone, as it sharpened its sword. Always keeping it clean, he prefered to have it sharp and clean, because he always needs to be ready for battle, seeing the nature of the rest of the outside world is almost universally hostile. It almost chuckled as it thought of the events that had transpired for as long as it could remember. Sighing in a calm remembrance, he slowly drifted off into a world that transcended its own, out of sync with the outside world. Thoughts of fights danced within its head as it continued to drift off.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

"Oh finally! The food is here!" Trevor said, as the waiter brought the orders for Ryan and himself. As he left, Trevor clasped his hands and smirked widely. "Oh this is going to be good!!" he said, as he was about to dig in...

 

CRASH!!

 

Trevor stopped as the sound came from behind him. "Ryan...tell me that wasn't a Heartless that's trying to attack the restaurant and its not behind me..." he sighed, looking at his ally.

 

"Sorry to say it...but..." Ryan said as he stood up, summoning up the katana, and rushed towards the Heartless swarm, casting Fire on a few.

 

Trevor finally stood up and summoned his Keyblade to his hand, sighing. "And I was just getting relaxed too!!" he said, as he began to slash a few of the Heartless...barrels? Barrels with spider legs...these Heartless need a bit of creativity in their forms... Trevor thought, as he slashed a few more of them, until he saw the swarm getting even worse. "Um...I may be a wielder of the Keyblade...buuuut I think it's gonna take more than it to kill all those off..."

 

"May I suggest a hasty retreat? That way we can get to Viola and Shuren?" Ryan asked, as he looked at the swarm getting larger.

 

Trevor nodded, as the two turned tail and began to run out of the district, heading to the district where Viola and Shuren would hopefully be.

[Merci]

By the time Shuren had reached the top, Viola was already on her way back down, triumphantly, wearing the backpack, when she paused as she encountered her fellow apprentice.

 

"What, you couldn't wait to see me again, Shu~?" She asked playfully, and continued to head down the long staircase. "I actually wanted to jump and see if I could make myself float down, but I guess I thought it was too risky..." Footsteps one after another, she looked out one of the windows. "You know, I saw that there are some Heartless over at the First District. Trevor and Ryan can probably take care of it, but maybe we should help..."

 

By the time they reached the bottom again and exited the clocktower, Viola glanced over to Shuren to see what he wanted to do.

[Phantom Roxas]

"You know, Balthazar, you can take care of any business you need to take care of while we finish things here."

Balthazar nodded. "Alright, I'll leave it to you." Balthazar left the tunnels, running as fast as he could to catch up with his apprentices. He eventually found his way to the Fourth District, horrified at the rubble. Barrel Spiders were marching forward, and behind them were Shadows and Soldiers, who turned to face the sorcerer. Balthazar flicked his fingers, and sparks appeared on them, but that just drew the Shadows to them. Balthazar shot at them, but tried to move forward to follow the trail of the Heartless. The Heartless were being drawn to the Keyblade, and that meant Trevor was the one in most danger.

[hr]
Mr. Spiky Spider jumped as high into the air as it could, crashing into the grounds of the Second District. It swung its claws into the walls, decimating the walkway leading from the First District. The great Heartless burrowed its claws into the ground, create vortexes of darkness where it struck, and emerging from each of them were two violet disembodied insect heads with mandibles. Several Barrel Spiders leapt to the ground, joining together with the heads until each of them grew had their own bodies. The pair of Barrel Centipedes continued to gain segments and coiled around each other, one head aiming towards Trevor, and the other attacking Ryan. Mr. Spiky Spider, satisfied with its servants dealing with the Keyblade wielder, turned to face the clock tower, where it saw a young girl talking with a boy. As the Heartless were either merging with Barrel Centipedes or still trying to catch up, Mr. Spiky Spider saw this as an opportunity to have two human hearts to feast upon on its own.

[Nexev]

"Bro I don't speak 'nothing'." Strider stated, there was little doubt that he was going to say more but Laxc leant down, putting himself face to face with the wraith. The two stared at each other for a moment then Laxc made a series of strange hand motions. "Huh" Strider stated confused "Apperantly my puppet can think for itself, that's pretty cool." Strider had Laxc tilt his head to simulate sage nodding. "Anyway it appears some heartless are heading there way, girl with them too. Looks like we found our boss." Strider smiled and turned to the annoying chick in their midst. "Look chances are someone with this much heartless on her disposal could be pretty useful. Personally I think its best to see if we can negotiate with them. That being said to you mine heading back? You are a bit of a liability here."

[Mugendramon]

Omcraxs stood up and vanished his sword at the words of Strider. "Yes, that's right. In fact I have to say my idea was to ditch this place the second I appeared because I knew this would happen. But I got ambushed and yeah that's how it went.

 

For now, I'll just head back."

 

Number III summoned a Corridor and left, the Wraith that had been stranded there followed with a disappointed sigh. They both reappeared in Omcraxs' room the Greater Nobody dropping on his bed with exasperation, waiting for the blindness to fade away.

 

[hr]

 

Chloé finally reached the group of Nobodies, Heartless trailing her. Her initial reaction was one of confusion. She had never seen these people before. And judging by her reaction, she thought to herself, neither had her friends. So this wasn't the source of the harm to the creatures.

 

She quickly turned curious of them and their black cloaks, and signaled her companions to step back as she walked towards a man with spiky hair and sunglasses.

 

"Never seen you people around here... you're certainly not dressed for the occasion either. So just who might you be?"

[The Warden]

Haxz laughed a little as he levitated up, causing Xetatyl's feeble attack to miss by a mile. The Heartless vanishing was good, but the question became a very large why? Why did the Heartless suddenly vanish for no apparant reason? There's nothing that they actually fear beyond the Keyblade, but when faced against it they suicidally hurl themselves at it.

 

Hmmm? Oh, Omcraxs left, well, that's probably for the best. Being around Heartless is hardly conducive for a team effort, and Haxz sure as hell didn't want to see him and Xetatyl having grody hate-snogs. But then, the train of thought hit the floor as the source of the Heartless was found... a red-haired girl who constantly looks like she's about to cry. Haxz peered over his shades to look her up, and down. "No, we're a bit of a fashion victim organization actually. That's our name by the way, the Organization. So, in return, who are you? And, why are those shadowy things following your beck and call?"

 

[hr]

 

After retrieving his backpack, Cornelius finally opened up his Inventory wheel, but to his dismay, all that was in the bag where strange heart-shaped (not the love heart kind) fruits, similar in texture to apples. "Confound it, it was just my bag of Napples. But, I must not give up hope. Tis only one of six bags, and now there is one less to find~~?!"

 

The shaking of Traverse Town distracted him, and his keen pooka ears picked up the sound of the wall nearby being smashed completely. "Those shadows chase me wherever they go. Or, they may be attracted to one of those apprentices. They carry unusual power, and that 'key-blade' object might be the source of those things. They concern me in their arrogance, but... my dislike for their caste does not warrant the loss of their lives without proper trial."

 

Closing the wheel, Cornelius leapt into action. Running on the tips of feet he made an impressive leap from the alleyway that's on the left of the Accessory Shop. He inspected the rubble that was the doorway to the Second District. The door was wrecked, and the rubble was piling high from it. But, there were blocks of wood sticking out. Not large enough for a human, but enough for a rabbit prince.

 

Taking a few steps back, Cornelius leapt and double jumped onto an overhanging wood. He landed carefully, before leaping up to the next piece, and then the next. After landing on the next step, Cornelius gave a brief moment to catch his breath. He hadn't had a workout like this for a long time, not since he had to fight through to the Titania sewers and Belial to save Velvet.

 

After catching his breath, he continued his journey up the rubble. Finally, he made it to the top, and his ears flinched at the horrific creature before him. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen, a truly horrifying and grotesque monster, even more horrifying than the Manticore. But, the human children were  in trouble. Cornelius recognized the boy who mentioned the key weapon, but the other one was defenseless save for his magic.

 

Cornelius drew his Psypher blade and made a daring leap. With the height advantage from the rubble, he made a double jump; now tucked into his little ball shape, he pointed the blade out and span like a buzz-saw, making a direct beeline for Mr. Spiky Spider's head.

[Mugendramon]

The redhead was surprised by the man's voice. It was... squeakier than she thought it would be when she saw him. Then he mentioned the "shadowy things", and his tone changed as if he had no idea what they were. But he clearly wasn't freaking out at their sight and neither were his companions, so he'd obviously seen them before, or simply knew of them. Her expression turned disdainful as she saw through the jackass immediately. "They're just my friends actually, I'd rather you didn't call them names. They follow me because they like me, obviously; I don't see what's so strange about that. But... they're certainly not something I've ever met in this world. Do you know what they're called, by any chance?"

 

With a smirk on her face, she turned to see each of the four people standing there. The Wyverns following her were now mockingly swirling around the group.

[The Warden]

This girl was certainly fairly coherent, but the Heartless being her 'friends' meant two things, and only two things. She was either: A messenger of the darkness with power terrible enough to control the Heartless, or she could be a Nobody. Either/or really. "Okay, you got me on that one. My dear, those things are called Heartless. They're horrible creatures made from darkness that take delight in stealing the Hearts of others just to make more of them. I'm not sure if you know that yourself, but, I think I can wager they've already taken yours."

 

Oh silly little girl, never try to snark off with the master of snark, especially since he's the best player at Go Fish. The Go Fish of life that is.

[Mugendramon]

The girl just... just... burst out laughing. The Wyverns began making more intrincate patterns around the nobodies, even... sticking their tongues out?

 

"Haaaahahaha! Take my heart away? Horrible creatures? Look at those things, they're the most docile creatures I've ever laid my eyes on! They haven't attacked me, let alone been... specific enough to target someone's heart! Do they really look smart enough to know where the thing that we need to live is? And did you just make that name up? You're so full of shit, I'm done talking to you~"

 

She gave the man with sunglasses a slight wave without looking at him, and walked off towards the woman standing behind him. With an fake smirk she addressed her; "Can you  actually tell me who you all are, then?"

[Nexev]

"Now now play nice. Don't go bothering the nice lady." Strider stated, as Laxc stepped in front of Haxz. "Sorry about him, he is a bit of a negative nancy. What your friends are is a group of heartless, which while composed of darkness, are often considered to be driven too much by instinct to truely be considered part of the moral axis. Despite this they do have a great tendency towards harvesting the darkness within hearts to increase their numbers, which makes you quite fortunate that they find it so easy to make friends with you. The group you currently have among you are a rather powerful group known as the Wyvern. They are often considered Epic tier monsters, though not an Elite like the Defenders and Wizard class who also frequently inhabit the same habitats. In addition it's fascinating that you have managed to ally with them as Wyvern frequently show up in areas of a more gothic environment and yet I see nothing of that sort here. You must have a particularly strong pull with darkness." Strider had Laxc hold up his hand for Chloe to shake. "My name is Strider, the man carrying me is Laxc, he's a friend of mine though not much of a talker. Why don't we find somewhere comfortable and discuss your friends, they are rather abnormal among others of their species and as a former aficionado of them this is personally quite fascinating." 

[Mugendramon]

Chloe was taken aback as she was adressed from behind, making the Heartless around suddenly stop in their tracks and stare at the duo behind her. With a leap she turned around and looked at the two. He started going in detail about the red winged beings, furthermore calling them Heartless again and affirming what the other guy had said about their, voracious nature?

 

But they hadn't once showed hostility, how could this be? The Wyverns wandered around, confusedly looking at each other. "I... I see... well Mister Strider and... Lax; at least you can say for sure these guys are inoffensive, yes? They're not going to hurt anyone are they? But, I'm not sure I can go with you! The old couple, I can't just leave them..."

 

A flash of curiosity showed in her eyes however. She was interested in what this man had to say, about them. About the Heartless. The Heartless who were now swirling around her and the two Nobodies. "...Okay, I'll go with you. But it has to be quick, I need to be back before the sun is up again."

[Nexev]

"They have a tendency too, begin subspecies of heartless do exist, most notably the White Mushrooms. Ultimately though a lot is not understood about heartless in terms of mentality, though those who willingly become heartless are known to more or less be identical to their previous mentalities. As for these species they tend towards hostility but due to their presence around you they seem to have become more docile. Frankly this is completely weird, like never before seen stuff. Either way I assure you me and Laxc will not imped you if you have any prior engagements, if you allow us to accompany you we will even gladly offer assistance." Laxc bowed to the lady. "Oh course if you would otherwise prefer we can arrange a later appointment, I am down for whatever."

[Mugendramon]

Her eyes gleamed in curiosity as Strider spoke, of different species, of her own influence over them... of those who willingly became Heartless? She let him finish talking, then instantly leaped and grabbed Strider off Laxc. "What did you mean when you said "became"? What exactly do they come from? What are they? I don't care if I have to follow you to the ends of the world, you have to tell me what the Heartless are!

 

I, I don't have anything else to do really. I don't mind going with you, but..." She gave a quick, angry look at the first man, which the Wyverns mimicked; "promise me you won't hurt my friends! I figure you are all together, so he would be coming too. I don't want him or any of you to lay hands on them. Even if it's as you say, and they are a hostile kind, they are dear to me. Promise me."

 

The Wyverns were lightly floating now, starting at Strider, awaiting an answer.

[Phantom Roxas]

Xetatyl sighed. "You're so pathetic. Look, we came here, and those Heartless attacked us. We fought back, and apparently they felt like they had to go crying home to mommy. We work for this jerk named Kreix, and he'll probably tell you what you need to know about the Heartless, but just a heads up, apparently I'm the first woman these guys have seen in months, if not years, so don't be so surprised if Kreix starts hitting on you. As for your friends, I'd rather kill them all and save myself the trouble, but these guys have a hissy fit, and I've had enough whining to deal with in one life, and I'd rather not have to deal with even more of it in my new one."

The three Pandoras approached Xetatyl, one of them raising its hand as if to ask question. "You three. Go away. You were helpful, I guess, but we're talking big leagues now." She stared at Lexyk and Doxfer, who were still leading their Paladins. "You're Kreix's errand boys, so I guess I can't tell you to go away."

Lexyk looked at Doxfer, then straightened himself. "As it turns out, we have other business to attend to, so if you are really that uncomfortable with us here, we shall go." Lexyk waved his hands at the Paladins, and they all teleported, save for Lexyk and Doxfer.

"And what are you going to tell our 'Superior'?"

"That will be for you to decide."

Xetatyl sneered. "Now that's a good boy."

Doxfer rolled his head, but Lexyk nodded. The two teleported away as well, as did the Pandoras.

[hr]
Mr. Spiky Spider stopped its march, looking to see who would dare attack it. It swung a clawed arm, grabbing for the small rabbit.

[Nexev]

"Alright I suppose we can take you to our digs, you may wanna leave the heartless behind, I know a pal, and he's great and all but dude has bad experiences with heartless, you know when you get bitten by a dog as a kid and you never get over the phobia? It's that." Laxc shrugged as Strider continued. "Anyway the issue seems to be that there is no telling if the heartless don't attack cause you told them not to or if its just your mere prescence, if the later they may resume to violent tendencies, or more likely newer heartless who were never befriended will arise. Anyways we probbably should take our discussion to somewhere else but still in this realm? Is there any cafes or anyplace with food around? I have not been able to eat since I died, oh more on that later. Also I apologize for my collegue she is awful.

 

Also stupid as her solution is scientifically impossible."

[Mugendramon]

Chloé turned at the woman in the robe, wide-eyed, as she spoke of killing the Heartless. He look of sheer terror became boiling anger and the Wyverns turned to her, ready to begin an assault. And they probably would have, had Strider not reassured the Nobody girl. 

 

"Cafés? Look around, this is a swamp the whole place is a swamp.  You won't exactly find anything better than where we're standing right now.

 

...Let's just go! My friends don't need to come with me. They're everywhere, have you noticed? They can always find me, no matter where I am. That friend of yours will have to deal with them sooner or later, and my answers are currently more relevant than any shitty kid and his phobias.

 

They'll stay here, let's go. Though... where are  we going? You still haven't told me where you are from."

 

The Wyverns were all focused on Strider and Laxc with undivided interest, while incidentally growling and the other two hooded figures.

[Nexev]

"Yeah not so much phobia like blind all consuming rage. You don't wanna deal with that as he cannot see where he is swinging, Laxc's head is still detachable." Laxc accompanied this grim reminder of his fate with a rather smug thumbs up. "Yeah good to see your in high spirits old buddy. Anyway thing about that. You ever heard of alternate worlds?" Strider opened up a corrider of darkness. "If not your in for a treat, my crib is very close to the edge of darkness so outside the castle they can gather in large numbers, they seem to lean towards pureblood tendency though but I am sure you can summon anything if you really think about it." Laxc started to head towards the portal then stopped and turned around. "Oh btw I can pretty much take this thing anywhere? Sure you don't want to go to like, idk france? Don't ladies dig france for some reason? Whatever." 

[Yosuke-kun]

"More worried you were gonna mess up and fall to your death." Shuren said as Viola teased him about heading up to the clock. He followed her down the staircase, and couldn't help feeling somewhat impressed by her magic talent. Of course, she WAS the Prime Merlinian. That kinda of magic probably came naturally to her. At the mention of the Heartless Shuren perked up slightly more.

 

"I sent Trevor a message. Assuming he got it, they should be ready, but I'm still a little worried." he stopped for a moment, considering the situation. He HAD split them this way in case of this exact event, but now he wasn't sure it was such a smart move. The Heartless was probably a strong one too, so that'd cause even more problems if they remained separated. Of course, there was still the thing about the backpacks, and helping the bunny prince. In the end, Shuren couldn't leave his friends alone though. "Yeah, lets head over to First District." he said as he noticed Viola looking to him for an answer.

 

As soon as he answered though, a massive spider looking Heartless landed just in front of the gate leading to First District and smashed it. Shuren instinctively moved in front of Viola to shield her from any on coming debris or other form of attacks, but never took his eyes off Mr. Spiky Spider. Well so much for going to First District to rendezvous with Trevor and Ryan. Worse, they were stuck in Second with this eight legged abomination.

 

"New plan." Shuren said "Kick that guys ass." With that he drew his saber and rushed at the Heartless. It didn't seem to notice him yet, so he'd have the element of surprise. Still, he wouldn't do much with just a saber. He'd have no choice but to improvise as always. Then he saw Cornelius leap over the rubble. For a rabbit, that guy could fight too, but Shuren wasn't sure he'd dodge the spider's counter attack. 

 

As he got closer to the spider, he managed to form the base of a plan. Casting a quick Haste spell, Shuren darted under the belly of Mr. Spikey Spider, sliding on the pavement to fit they whole way under, and cut the legs on the right side of the spider. Of course he didn't deal any lasting damage, but he injured the spider and gave Cornelius the opening he needed to land his own attack. As Shuren slid out from under the spider, he skidded to a halt and sprang to his feet, landing somewhere near where Cornelius landed after his attack. "Good to see you again your Highness."

[Mugendramon]

Yadda yadda puppet guy really likes to talk, Chloé stopped listening as soon as he opened the black portal. "That, that black thing. The Heartless can do that too. How can you do it as well? It can't be... are you one of those "purebloods" you speak of? Are you all Heartless too?! ...Moreover, can I really go through those? I thought their use was limited to them, since they usually disappear as soon as they go in or out of them. And, and, new worlds? There's more than this one? You can take me there with these?!"

 

The girl reached for Laxc and promply hugged him, dropping his head into the mud. The Wyverns danced in the air, ectastic. "OHYOUHAVETOTAKEMEOUTTOSEE! But who the hell is Frans?" 

[The Warden]

Haxz was impressed. As creepy as Laxc/Strider was, he was certainly much more efficient than, well, let's just say that when Xetatyl finally gets her Title, it will in all likelihood become "The B***h". Hmm, Haxz reminded himself to suggest that name to Kreix. "France, it's a country on another world young lady. Although, before we concede to your unusually enthustiatic demands, we would do well to know your name. It is the first part of a gretting after all. I'm Haxz, the puppet is... I don't know those two, I came late to that meeting, but the woman is Xetatyl. So, what is your name?"

 

[hr]

 

After Cornelius struck MSS on its head, he bounced off and sailed through the air. Picking up that the beast was grabbing for him, he twisted in the air and slashed straight for the hand. The legendary sharpness of the Psypher was pretty apparant here as it cleaved off the chunk of hand making for the grab. The bisected cartilage flew through the air alongside Cornelius, and he used it as a landing point to leap from it and make a clean getaway.

 

As he landed, one of the apprentices seemed to have finished his own assault. "Good to see you again your Highness."

 

Cornelius nodded as the horrible spider appendage landed nearby and returned to darkness. "Were it only under better circumstances. This horror is unlike anything I have ever seen, a beast of beasts, to be certain. But, those barrel creatures threatening us demand precedence, and I believe I may have something that will answer their call for oblivion."

 

Aiming himself at the barrel creatures, Cornelius raised the Psypher Blade high, before swinging downwards with such tremendous force that a glowing blue tornado was unleashed. It writhed and twisted as it moved swiftly towards the creatures. And with so many segments, they will not be able to dodge this attack.

[Merci]

The girl shrieked as a hellish spider-like reaver monster from hell showed up out of nowhere, smashing the First District gate. While she was still trying to get over its terrifying appearance, her legs shaking, Shuren bravely charged in, sliding under its belly and managing to slice off its right legs. The rabbit prince helping him while moving about in a surprisingly agile manner for his size, a chunk of the giant Heartless's hand appendage-thing had consequently been cut through like butter. Once she had gotten over the terror affecting her body, she shook her head and tried to come up with a better plan.

As she saw Prince Cornelius send several segments of blue tornadoes at the nearby barrel creatures, only one thing came to mind: the phenomenon known as fire tornadoes. If she could imitate that wind thing, then it might just be possible to create something so destructive that it would take down this huge monster straightaway. It was when fire obtained a vertical vorticity somehow, usually upon combining with the prowess of a tornado's column of air.

"Shuren, cover me!" Viola yelled out, and thrust her ring forth, beginning to concentrate on making a few tornadoes of her own.

The winds quickly gathering together into a spiraling formation, she then concentrated on vibrating their moving bodies. It would take up to ten seconds in total, but under the hope that enough time had been bought, she'd successfully managed to set them on fire. By then, they were almost uncontrollable swirls of blazing destruction, but it was okay since the Heartless would absorb the entire thing before it went on to burn down this district.

"BURN! AHAHAHAHAHAH!!!" She laughed comically, before sending the flaming whirls straight for the amputated Heartless monster.

[Love of Ghibli]

Nerhyx was simply laughing as he watched all of these events happen from a distance. It was clear that these Nobodies ever went to a finishing school of any kind they were completely disrespectful and off-putting. Even a gentle stranger turned aggressive in this instance. Though that didn't even seem to matter at this point. This maiden did seem to have a certain level of innate skill when it came to controlling heartless powerful ones at that. At the very least these boys, the female nobody was as crass as the rest so she might as well be the same, were able to bring the superior a powerful vessel. Nerhyx was also amused to see that the Number III was blinded. He was almost jealous of the handicapable nobody. Thanks to being blind he is able to go without seeing Haxz or the others. That could be seen as a blessing and a curse. One of the gentlemen managed to get his attention for a second and showed him the fight between the kids and the golden person. Nerhyx took note of the magical barrier that one heartless managed to raise and nodded. 

 

"Hmmm that sounds like a trick I should attempt."

[Mugendramon]

Oh the other jackass spoke up instead. However she was willing to listen as he was being a lot less fucking annoying  in his words. She answered with a look over her shoulder. "That's a funny story actually. I didn't... actually know my name the first time I showed up here. I didn't remember anything actually. I was known as "that girl" for a long time until this old couple, old Tweet and Slade, finally decided I should have a name. They named me Chloé. There's an accent in the E mind you. So now everybody calls me that, and I like the name myself so I have no complaints.

 

So I guess sorry for not introducing myself properly." She turned quickly to Lax again: "You haven't answered me Mister Strider, are you all Heartless?"

[Phantom Roxas]

"No, we're called 'Nobodies'," Xetatyl said, moving her fingers to gesture quotation marks. "And good luck keeping your old name, Chloé. Kreix has this weird obsession with mixing up people's names and throwing an 'X' into the mix, because he's stupid like that, I guess. You know, now that I think about it, a much more interesting question would be what you guys were named before Kreix did his stupid little 'naming ritual'." She pointed to Haxz. "Like what were you named? 'Ah'? And what about that whiny jerk who's probably crying in his bed right about now?"

[hr]
Balthazar entered the First District, but the Heartless kept piling on top of him. Blasting through barrages of Heartless, he looked towards the inn, then the Second District. He grit his teeth, wondering what could be taking Lightning so long. However, his attention was taken by the two Barrel Centipedes, who were continuing to grow in length. Balthazar instinctively shot a spark at both of them, and the barrels that were effectively the centipedes' necks began to explode, causing a chain reaction that kept the next of the chains exploding. The heads of the Barrel Centipedes burst into flames, but the explosions would not cease, continuing as the blasts approached Trevor and Ryan.

[hr]
Mr. Spiky Spider cried out as its right leg was destroyed, tipping its balance. It's left claw had been torn in half, and it was not about to be defeated by a rabbit and two children. The Heartless used its intact claw and hind leg to support itself. Raising its arm and half, it summoned a tower of barrels that surrounded it in a circular formation, reaching a height taller than the clock tower. Rows of barrels further outlined the tower. It was a dangerous shield for MSS, but it dared its enemies to think twice before blasting through.